Useful tips for saving money when heading to the shops

When it comes to shopping, food can be the most expensive item we spend our money on, so it makes sense to cut costs in this area. However, few people want to cut costs when it may mean cutting down on the quality of food, or indeed any consumer item; but fortunately, this need not be the case.
Savvy shopping

The truth is that retailers are constantly competing when it comes to gaining customers, so much so that they seem to be continuously offering deals or putting on sales to entice you into their stores and spend your money. Supermarkets are always doing this. Just walk through your local supermarket and you will see 3 for 2 offers, discounts and BOGOFs (Buy One Get One Free); but are these deals all they seem to be?

Some offers are deliberately misleading, claiming a special price for two items when used as part of a deal, when if you were to buy them singly, the items would actually cost less. Supermarkets use tricks such as this because they know humans are attracted by the idea of a bargain and often look no further than the shiny placard announcing the deal. Always check the price of individual items to ensure you are spending less by buying more.

However, in some cases, the deals are really as good as they seem. For instance, BOGOFs on items that you buy regularly are often a good deal, providing you can be sure you will eat all you buy before its use-by date. For this reason, it is a good idea to mainly take advantage of supermarket deals when they are on non-perishable items.

Food is not the only area where consumers should be looking out for good deals. The idea of a reward system, as offered by companies such as Grouptrader, is common these days. Reward systems work on the principle that you will receive points for each pound you spend in the shop, thereby encouraging you to return and “spend” your points. This usually means that when you have built up enough points, you may have enough to walk away with an item that is free or else heavily discounted. However, there is a caveat associated with such reward schemes, in that you have to be a frequent shopper to build up the necessary points.

This makes in-store sales the best time to get a great deal, whether it be on clothes, computers or entertainment. You may be less successful with clothing sales, however, because often these represent the unsold items from the outgoing season, and all that may be left are the sizes that are either too large or too small for you. With computers and other similar items, though, you can often get fantastic reductions, simply because there is a new model coming out.

Savvy shoppers who want to make their money go further look out for deals and special offers such as these, often not succumbing to impulse buys, but biding their time. It can be a trick worth learning.